African football warms up to new goal-line technology

As Africa prepares to adopt goal-line technology, it might take Kenya years before laying the infrastructure for the new technology.

Goal-line technology will be on the agenda when organisers of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations next meet, says African football’s governing body CAF.

Last month, world top soccer organisation, Fifa, approved the use of goal-line technology after years of stubbornly refusing to do so.

And CAF is now next on line.

“This topic will be tabled … in September to discuss the way forward on its implementation, whether for the 2013 Nations Cup or later ,” said CAF secretary-general Hicham El Amrani.

The next Nations Cup starts in January. This technology will be used for the first time when the Fifa Club World Cup takes place in Japan in December.

It is possible that an African team will be the first to benefit from the decision since the continent’s club champions take part in the event every year.

“The most important effect this technology will have is that it gives the power back to the people, not to some officials who —with all due respect —may not have been able to run the extra mile to see whether the ball has crossed the line or not,” said El Amrani.

If the technology proves to be successful at December’s Club World Cup, there are plans to also use it at the 2013 Confederations Cup and 2014 World Cup .

But in Kenya, officials say it will be difficult to introduce the technology due to the expenses involved.

“At this point I can say its going to be too expensive to install the cameras and the chips for the technology. We hope to get assistance from Fifa as time goes and install these at the main stadia,” said Football Kenya Federation chairman Sam Nyamweya.

According to Fifa, six cameras will be installed focusing on each goal to track the ball on the pitch. The system’s software uses “triangulation” to pinpoint the exact location of the ball.

If it crosses the goal-line, an encrypted radio signal is sent to the referee’s wristwatch to indicate that a goal has been scored. The whole process takes less than a second.

Alternatively a microchip can be implanted in the ball, with low magnetic waves used around the goal. The system can detect any change in the magnetic field on or behind the goal-line to determine if the ball is in.

The process takes less than one second, with the result electronically relayed to the referee.